


Burning Bright

by thewaywardwriter



Series: We are the Force and the Force is within. [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Self-Discovery, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 03:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewaywardwriter/pseuds/thewaywardwriter
Summary: 'Who am I?' Luke whispers and the Force sprinkles a coolness into him that makes his joints aches and that reveals no answers to him.He thinks of the name "Luke," given to him by a mother he barely remembers and frowns. It is a name she gave him, sure, but that was all of hers that he had. So he opens himself back up to the Force and considers what it means to live up to a name he feels he doesn't deserve.





	Burning Bright

It all starts.....it starts when Luke reaches for the grounding sensation that of the rock beneath his fingers, he opens up to the Force and it sweeps into him like a flower opening up into the sun-kissed air and it is pain, it is relief, it

 

'Who am I?' Luke whispers and the Force sprinkles a coolness into him that makes his joints aches and that reveals no answers to him.

 

He thinks of the name "Luke," given to him by a mother he barely remembers and frowns. It is a name she gave him, sure, but that was all of hers that he had. So the old Jedi lets the Force into him again and considers what it means to live up to a name he feels he doesn't deserve.

 

It shows him kindness, it shows him strength and the old man who calls himself Luke and yet does not know who he is, opens himself up further to the force and there is the stars, the planets, the fading presence of the young Rey and then there is Leia. Where her force-self was strong and determined and unfathomably _large,_ it seemed lesser and not _fading,_ not _quite_ fading but weak as in...

 

It was hard to tell when he was _this far away from her_ and then he remembered that he could hardly hear her heartbeat, faint as it was.

 

Nothing had changed. And the force is still streaking through him, overwhelmingly and blindingly bright. There is life, death, peace, and violence and in between, there is the balance and then it roars into the familiar silence that still yet rang with power. It remained the swirling energy that was often described to him as a sandstorm by multiple Jedi through the years.

 

But that doesn't matter anymore. The Force is with him and he one is with the Force and all Luke has to do is remember who _he once was_ and all will be well. He thinks of Rey, he thinks of her desire to look into the darkness and he thinks of why he wants the Jedi to end and it seems petty that he wants to die with his failures.

 

 But then Yoda's words come back to him and as much as Luke hates it, he goes back and he thinks of Owen and Beru and his father and his sister and the Rebellion and he opens himself back up to the force again and again and -

 

 _"Great kid, don't get cocky,"_  is Han's voice and _"You're a little short for a storm trooper,"_  says his memory of Leia and " _feel the Force Luke"_ says his first teacher and with the familiar echo of a Whills chant, then the force pushes him forward and pulls him down into its depths and there at the bottom is the boy who looked at the despair of his foster parents' bodies, and the boy who discovered the depths of the despair that the rebellion ran under.

 

There are the slavers and the people who died in his arms during his reign with the rebellion and deep within it is the despair and the sadness and then there is, at the deepest depths of what the force is showing him, is humble, kindness and despite himself, he smiles. It is hard to remember when he last felt like that.  He thinks of the darkness that Rey ( _oh_ ) had sensed and had very nearly jumped into and he thinks, he thinks and he decides.

 

Back into the pit, Luke goes, no longer shaking with the amount of feeling the Force has given and overwhelms with him.

 

The darkness is overwhelming too, but he thinks again of what Yoda says about failure and presses his fingertips to the wall of dark and it shows him that he fails, except he is expecting it now and failure...failure can teach as well and all he has to do is take that opportunity and learn.

 

The Force shows him everything about himself, the good, the bad and what sticks with him the most is the mistakes.

 

He is not sure how he will be able to help them now, he does not have Threepio, or Artoo, and his ship was sunk deep within the depths of this ocean. There is a feeling of brief despair but there is a whir of outside resignation diving into his senses. It is enough that Luke manages to slowly come back to himself without a hitch. Somewhere overhead, there is a familiar cheerful gurgle that briefly disconcerts him and yet is comforting all at once.

 

It is enough.

 

Luke Skywalker takes a moment to breathe and - "Well?" Rey interrupts.

 

"Are you coming?"

 

He smiles.

 

"Yes, Rey. I am coming."

**Author's Note:**

> I have been sitting on this stupid thing since December. Have feels. xo


End file.
